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Submission Guidelines

प्रस्तुति दिशा निर्देश को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहाँ क्लिक करें। 

In Plainspeak addresses nuanced issues of sexuality in a simple and accessible way. For us, simple does not mean simplistic, and nuance does not mean jargon or dense academic writing.

In Plainspeak seeks to nurture a safe, inclusive, and positive space to generate awareness and conversation on complex and sensitive issues around sexuality, and to promote Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and wellbeing.

Categories

Issue in Focus
A piece with a nuanced perspective on the selected theme of the month, analysing it in an in-depth manner.
Word limit: 1000-1500 words

Interview
This section features an interview with an expert working in the field of SRHR or other human rights-based work.

Review
This section has reviews of books, films, TV shows, poetry events, art exhibitions, apps, or any media/events connected to sexuality and rights. Reviews can cover recent as well as older books, movies, and TV shows, including those that are considered to be classics in the field of sexuality.
Word Limit: 800 – 1200 words

The ‘I’ Column
This is a personal account of how individuals see the theme of the month affecting them and highlights the affirmation or violation of their sexual and/or reproductive rights, and wellbeing.
Word Limit: 800 – 1200 words

Voices
This section may include non-fiction, viewpoints, op-eds, highlights of a particular campaign/movement in the region, humour, debates around an issue, etc.
Word Limit: 1000 – 1500 words

Fiction & Poetry
This section contains fiction in the form of stories as well as poetry that explores a particular theme either directly or indirectly.
Word Limit: 1000 – 1500 words for fiction, 2-3 poems for poetry

Visual Section
This section carries original as well as curated thematic videos and various forms of art. There are two sub-categories in this section:

  • Brushstrokes: This includes a display of original and curated/sourced visual artwork, photographs, illustrations, etc. based on the theme of the month. We accept original submissions of artwork and photography for this section, where a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 10 photographs are accepted, the minimum resolution being 1200 x 1800 pixels for each photo. The total size should not exceed 1 MB.
    Format: Visual art in .jpeg, pdf, .png files.
  • Video Page: A short documentary or short film related to the theme of the month curated from the Internet.

Curated Content
All curated content – Corners, Brushstrokes, and Videos – is shared to amplify content around sexuality and rights. We do not claim copyright to curated content and all rights for the same remain with the original sources. Corners and Videos are embedded links while Brushstrokes and Blogrolls are republished from open sources with a link back to the original source.

Submission Guidelines
  • Only original and unpublished work is accepted. In the event of your work being accepted for publication elsewhere while we are reviewing/editing it, please inform us.
  • All submitted articles are checked for plagiarism and will be rejected if found to be copied from other sources without due attribution. Plagiarism refers to the intentional copying of others’ work without proper attribution or the copying of content without providing appropriate references.
  • TARSHI reserves the right to accept (or decline) and edit submissions. We may add an editor’s note to a submission to contextualise it for our audience.
  • Content that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group based on their caste, class, gender, race, religious affiliation, sexual and gender identity, disabilities, or other identity factors, will not be accepted.
  • Format: A Word document (doc or .docx) with English (UK) spellings, in Times New Roman, 12 Point, single-spaced. Please check the word limit for each section above. Citation: APA citation style.
  • To submit your work to In Plainspeak, please title your submission as ‘Category, Issue – full name’, for example, ‘Voices, Power and Sexuality – Abc Xyz’.
  • Along with your work, please send us your bio in no more than 100 words, a photo, and any social media handles you’d like to share.
  • We accept submissions only through the Google Form given below. In case you would like to pitch us something and discuss your ideas or if you have any queries, you can email us at inplainspeak@tarshi.net. Please DO NOT email us your submissions and only use the Google Form for that purpose.
  • Please remember that published material remains online for a long time and reaches diverse audiences. Given the sensitivity of the topics that we deal with, you may choose to have your work credited as Anonymous.
  • By sending us your work to be published, you give us permission to translate it into Hindi, and permission to use it in print versions or offline spaces.
  • As In Plainspeak is a not-for-profit magazine, we do not pay for submissions. We trust that this will be a valuable platform for you to share your ideas and experiences and contribute your writing.

Social Media

We may post content from In Plainspeak on TARSHI’s social media platforms. Please let us know if you are comfortable with us posting your work, and if so, share your social media handles for us to be able to tag you.

Timelines

A single theme runs across two months, with one issue published every month. Timelines are as specified on posters published on this website or on our social media handles. For any queries, please write to inplainspeak@tarshi.net.

We receive many submissions and might not be able to respond to you right away. We try to respond within a week, but sometimes might take as long as two weeks.

Image Credits

We primarily use Creative Commons images for our articles. If an image has not been credited properly or if it is not under a Creative Commons licence, please let us know, and we will either remove it or correct the credits based on what the owner of the image wishes. We want to thank all the artists and creative people who share their content for free and make it accessible to a not-for-profit e-magazine like In Plainspeak.

Copyright

In Plainspeak articles are copyright protected and owned by TARSHI, unless the author has explicitly requested to retain their rights. TARSHI may print the content to make available as handouts or digests of articles for students, NGOs, participants of trainings and other such audiences. TARSHI may also translate the published content into Hindi, and publish the content on social media including Facebook, Twitter, and similar online platforms. TARSHI may also share published articles with other publications from time to time for non-commercial use and reserves the right to allow title changes with our permission, and will inform authors where their articles are shared.

Authors are welcome to link to articles in their personal blogs and websites, with due credit to TARSHI. If an author would like to republish their work, please email inplainspeak@tarshi.net for permission.

Content Syndication

We look to collaborate with other feminist, like-minded blogs/e-magazines/websites that have a similar perspective as ours.

We welcome content syndication provided that content is not modified (this includes, but is not restricted to, the adding of links with or without JavaScript) and no commercial gain is made by content syndication, including the display of advertisements around the content.

Republished content must be attributed as: “This article (or eview/post/video/interview) was originally published in the (month, date) edition of In Plainspeak, a digital magazine on sexuality in the Global South.” In addition, the author/s must be attributed along with their bio as published in In Plainspeak.

Once republished, please email us a link to the article/post at inplainspeak@tarshi.net.

This policy is subject to change without any prior notice.

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